After training and competing online for two years, Speech and Debate students will travel to Austin, Texas in December for their first in-person tournament.
Whether currently researching, writing, memorizing or working on delivery, students are preparing to compete and some, such as sophomore Esther Oyetunji, have never participated in person before.
“I joined speech and debate as a freshman new to the school and was distance learning the entire last year. However, speech gave me a community on campus which I am so grateful for. I have met some of the most amazing and talented people and coaches ever, not just at our school but from around the country,” Oyetunji said.
Oyetunji triumphed last year as both novice (first-year competitors) and varsity state champion of Informative Speaking, qualifying to Nationals — conducted by the National Speech and Debate Association — in the event. Informative Speaking is an event where a student writes and performs their own unbiased speech to teach about a topic with use of visual aids. This year, Oyetunji attends school in person and plans to travel with the team for the University of Texas Longhorn Classic tournament from Dec. 3 to 5.
For Oyetunji, her coaches played an integral role in preparing her speech while still allowing her creative liberty. “The coaches offer their ideas and suggestions but give us the final say on our piece because they feel it’s our story to tell. They are very supportive and push us to be our best by challenging us in practice when they know we can do better,” Oyetunji said.
Mr. Ryan Levesque, public address events (student-written speeches) coach, stated that enthusiasm for speech and debate dropped because COVID-19 prevented enjoyable trips and transitioning to online proved difficult at times. However, the speech and debate community persevered, sitting at computer screens for hours and finally, the light at the end of the tunnel is near.
“Health scares aside, this is probably the best year to be a teacher. My students are so receptive, their hands are up all the time. Everyone’s so excited to learn, because they know what they didn’t have,” Mr. Levesque said.
As a teacher, Mr. Levesque believes it necessary to show students that he respects them. He hopes to challenge them to reach their potential and help them grow as people. Teaching for 14 years has allowed him to witness this growth in his students. He experienced the development of the Heritage team, which he has coached since 2016. When he joined, the team almost exclusively participated in debate, since they were without a speech instructor. Mr. Levesque coached speech events, offering opportunities to a wider range of students, and both sides of the team grew with time.
The Speech and Debate team enjoyed much success recently, with victories at the Yale Invitational, the New York City Invitational (Bronx), Florida Blue Key Invitational and the Cypress Bay Tradition. Mr. Levesque takes pride in his students’ awards, but believes that personal wins hold equal, if not greater value.
“What makes me the proudest is seeing a student grow in confidence. That confidence bleeds over into other parts of their lives because Speech and Debate is hard and if you can do that, you feel like you can do anything,” Mr. Levesque said.
